


Over Middle-earth Sent

by amyfortuna



Category: The Lord of the Rings - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Character Study, Gap Filler, Stars
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-24
Updated: 2017-03-24
Packaged: 2018-10-10 01:37:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 580
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10426320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amyfortuna/pseuds/amyfortuna
Summary: Aragorn follows the hobbits from Tom Bombadil to Bree.





	

**Author's Note:**

> B2MEM, Red Path, "I have loved the stars too fondly to be fearful of the night."

Evening was drawing down as Aragorn made his silent and weary way towards Bree. The rumours of Black Riders abroad was chilling; the thought that somewhere, unguarded and unprotected, the Ruling Ring wandered the wilderness between the Shire and Bree with Frodo Baggins was not comforting. 

He heard singing in the distance, and cocked his head to better listen. Surely that was old Tom Bombadil, who he knew mainly by rumour and the occasional meeting. There were few among the Rangers who had ever seen him, but now and again Tom had sought him out to pass on messages and advice, often coded in nonsense rhymes that only became clear an hour down the road. Aragorn slipped behind a convenient hedge and watched. 

Presently several ponies emerged, and on the backs of them, the hobbits he had been hoping to see. He breathed an inaudible sigh of relief as they discussed their destination, and the one who was clearly Frodo gave instructions that he should be called 'Mr Underhill' in Bree. As they moved off down the Road, he followed quietly behind, at a steady pace. Darkness fell, and the early stars began to come out. 

Above him Gil-Estel shone bright and pure, as if to light his path, not twinkling like most of the rest of the lesser stars. He smiled up at the ancient ship over Middle-earth sent, wondering if in Imladris Arwen was looking up at that very same light, and thinking of him. His Evenstar, his light too bright and pure for mortal hands to hold...or so it seemed to him yet. That she returned his love still felt to him like a dream from which he had not yet awakened.

In his younger days, when over Middle-earth he had been sent on dark and dangerous journeys, he had made a habit of looking up at the Evenstar each night, of pouring all the love and adoration he felt for Arwen into those quiet moments, gazing upward in hope and wonder. Everywhere he went he had seen the Evenstar -- even in lands where the other stars were strange, Gil-Estel followed him. 

He walked on into the gathering gloom, mind so accustomed to moving silently and stealthily that he could easily ponder the beauty of the stars at the same time. Ahead, the hobbits chatted quietly among themselves, voices sounding weary. 

It was fully night when they arrived at Bree, and Aragorn slipped carefully into the shadows as the hobbits talked to the gatekeeper. The conversation went on for longer than he originally figured it would -- the gatekeeper was wary and had clearly caught wind of the Black Riders himself -- so Aragorn again turned his attention to the stars. The Evenstar hung low on the horizon, about ready to go in for the night, but other stars were coming out brighter and brighter now, all of Varda's fine work on display. The constellation Menelvagor was low in the south, as befitted an autumn evening, and not far off swung the Valacirca. With such lights to guide him, what need was there of fear? The Black Riders might be abroad and the world trembling on the edge of darkness, but as long as the stars shone above, there was yet hope. 

Aragorn smiled to himself as the gatekeeper finally let the hobbits in. Turning his attention back to his task, he slipped over the gate behind the hobbits and melted away into the shadows of the night.


End file.
